Abu Dhabi unveils 'Declaration of Principles' on bioconvergence to enhance global healthcare outcomes

As an outcome of the Health Leaders Forum (HLF) organised during Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week (ADGHW), a major government initiative taking place between 13 and 15 May 2024, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the Emirate, has unveiled a Declaration of Principles on Bioconvergence, to transform healthcare, improve human health and well-being.

As a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Declaration outlines global principles covering guidance on transparency, accountability, and bias mitigation, as well as research ethics and ethical decision-making in the field of Bioconvergence.

Bioconvergence has been recognised as the latest technological trend of the 21^st century for the healthcare sector. It is a transdisciplinary field that merges engineering and life sciences, and is set to revolutionise the health-tech industry. Bioconvergence fuses life sciences with a vast number of technologies from fields such as mathematics, engineering, and physical and computational sciences.

The Declaration of Principles will witness leading local and global entities collaborate with DoH including Amazon, Microsoft, UAE University (UAEU), Mohammad Bin Zayed University for AI (MBZUAI), Core 42 and Masdar City.

Segmented into six strategic pillars, the principles aim to advance Bioconvergence research and development, encourage investment in the field to address urgent healthcare challenges, establish international cooperation frameworks, prioritise research areas in public health and personalised medicine, and promote the adoption of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and nanomedicine.